DISCOURSE: 942
JEHOVAH A JUST GOD AND A SAVIOUR
Isaiah 45:21. There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is mine beside me.
TO us, who have been habituated from our infancy to hear of none but the true and living God, it seems incredible that man should be so stupid and selfish as to bow down to stocks and stones, and to worship them as gods. But not only is mankind in general prone to idolatry, but even the people of God themselves, who had seen all the wonders wrought by Jehovah in Egypt, were ever ready to turn aside from him, and to worship the work of their own hands. Hence we see so much in the prophetic writings on the subject of idolatry, and in vindication of Jehovah as the only true God. In the passage before us, God has appealed to the evidence which he had given of his exclusive right to the regards of his people; in that he had foretold future events, which came to pass agreeably to his predictions; whilst none of the gods of the heathen had ever pretended to any such power. And in the words before us he maintains his own supremacy, by a further statement of his character as a just God and a Saviour.
Let us consider,
I. The character of God as here stated—
We shall consider it,
1. As contrasted with that of all the heathen deities—
[Whatever their poor deluded votaries might imagine, it was not in their power either to inflict or to avert evil. This is put in a striking point of view by the Prophet Jeremiah: “The customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with an axe. They deck it with silver and with gold: they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm-tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them: for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to good [Note: Jeremiah 10:3-5.].”
But Jehovah is alike able either to save or to destroy. See whether his justice be not marked in his conduct towards the fallen angels, whom he expelled from heaven for their sin; and towards the antediluvian world, which, with the exception of a single family of eight persons, he destroyed with an universal deluge. See what is his indignation against sin, as marked in the judgments executed on Sodom and Gomorrha. See it, also, as demonstrated in the punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, or of Ananias and Sapphira. But the instances are too numerous to be mentioned. No one can have read the Scriptures of truth, and not see that God is just in punishing iniquity; and that to those who live in sin, he is, and will be, “a consuming fire [Note: Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29.].”
On the other hand, he is a Saviour also to all who put their trust in him. Behold his interposition in behalf of Noah and his family, whilst all the rest of the world were destroyed. Or see the deliverance he vouchsafed to his people from their bondage in Egypt; or how he carried them through the wilderness, and established them in the land of Canaan. Or view the miracles wrought by our blessed Saviour and his Apostles; and then say, whether there be any bounds to Jehovah’s mercy or power.
But the comparison between Jehovah and the heathen deities would be utterly absurd, if it were not that the more than brutish stupidity of mankind called fur such illustrations, for the conviction of their minds.]
2. As shining forth in his own proper and harmonious perfections—
[It is in the union of these two perfections of justice and mercy that the glory of the Godhead is most fully seen. We must look at justice as exercised in a way of mercy, and mercy as displayed in a way of justice, if we would at all appreciate aright the character of our God. He, of his own unbounded love and mercy, determined to save our fallen race. But would he leave sin unpunished? No: he would punish sin, and yet save the sinner: and, in order to that, he gave his only-begotten Son to be the substitute of the sinful man, that in him sin might receive its just recompence, and by him a righteousness might be wrought out for man; that so God might be just, and yet the justifier of all who should believe in him. By this his justice shines forth more awfully than if he had executed vengeance on the whole human race; and his mercy more richly than if he had pardoned all without such an atonement offered for them. The gift of his only-begotten Son reflects a light on these perfections which can be seen in nothing else; and which infinitely exceeds any that can be found in a separate and disjointed view of them, as exercised towards our sinful world — — —]
Let us then proceed to contemplate,
II.
The regard due to him under that character—
This part of my subject is altogether inexhaustible. But I will confine myself to the mention of three effects, which such a view of the Deity as is here exhibited should produce:
1. Fear—
As for the Heathen deities, there is not one that merits the smallest possible regard. But who will not fear the Lord our God? This is the very improvement which the Prophet Jeremiah suggests, on instituting the comparison between the two: “Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord: thou art great; and thy name is great in might: who would not fear thee, O king of nations [Note: Jeremiah 10:6-7.]?” The same reflection is made by all the redeemed in heaven, whilst singing the song of Moses and the Lamb: “They sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy [Note: Revelation 15:3-4.].” It is of immense importance, Brethren, that you should duly estimate this thought. For many, from conceiving of God as “a Saviour,” forget that he is “just.” But indeed he is a holy God, that “cannot look upon iniquity without the utmost abhorrence of it [Note: Habakkuk 1:13.];” and he has warned us, that, notwithstanding his great delight in mercy, “he will not clear the guilty [Note: Exodus 34:6-7.].” No indeed; “upon the wicked he will rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup [Note: Psalms 9:17; Psalms 11:6.].” I say, then, to every one of you, “Fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear Him [Note: Matthew 10:28.].”]
2. Trust—
[As persons, previous to the awakening of their souls, are ready to think of God as all mercy; so, after that they begin to be convinced of sin, they are prone to run to a contrary extreme, and to think of God as though he were averse to mercy, and intent only on the vindication of his injured Majesty. But know, Brethren, that mercy is that in which he chiefly delights: “judgment is his strange act,” to which he never proceeds, till he has exercised forbearance towards us to the uttermost. Call to mind his exceeding great and precious promises; and then say, whether any sinner in the universe has reason to despond, provided only he desire mercy at the hands of God? Or rather, consider what God has done in giving his only dear Son to die for you: would he have done this, if he were backward to the exercise of mercy? Carry all your sins to him, without questioning for one moment his willingness to pardon; and know, that “if you go to him in the name of his dear Son, he will in no wise cast you out [Note: John 6:37.].”]
3. Obedience—
[This is due to him from you, as creatures: What then is it, as redeemed sinners? I will venture to ask, Is there one of you who believes himself obnoxious to his wrath, and yet a partaker of his grace, that would even wish to be released from his obligations to obey him? No: I am sure that every one who views God in his complex character, as “a just God, and yet a Saviour,” will desire to honour God with all his faculties and powers; and will consecrate himself to God as a living sacrifice, under a full conviction, that if this entire surrender of himself to God be a necessary, it is no less “a reasonable and delightful, service [Note: Romans 12:1.].” It is impossible to have any just views of “the love of Christ, and not be constrained by it to live altogether to His praise and glory [Note: 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.].”]